Howard W. Jones Jr., a physician who pushed the boundaries of gynecologic surgery, opened the first sex-change clinic in an American hospital and helped achieve the first birththrough in vitro fertilization in the United States, died on Friday in Norfolk, Va. He was 104.
His success in fertilizing a woman’s egg outside the womb, after 41 tries, was achieved alongside his wife, Dr. Georgeanna Jones, one of the nation’s first reproductive endocrinologists. Working together at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, they accomplished the feat when Judith Carr gave birth to Elizabeth Carr, America’s first “test-tube baby,” by cesarean section at 7:46 a.m. on Dec. 28, 1981, at what is now Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

HONG KONG — Wan Li, the Communist Party leader who helped end the failed Mao-era policy of collective farming, which had left rural Chinese in desperate poverty, died on Wednesday in Beijing. He was 98.
Mr. Wan was the last survivor of the senior revolutionary veterans who pushed through China’s reforms under Deng Xiaoping beginning in the late 1970s, shaking off the socialist collectivism that Mao Zedong had imposed through communes, state control and top-down planning. The party’s obituary called Mr. Wan a “pioneer of China’s rural reforms.”

Marlene Sanders, one of the first women to break into television journalism, where she compiled a stellar résumé as a reporter in the field and an Emmy-winning writer and producer of documentaries, died on Tuesday at a hospice in Manhattan. She was 84.
She became one of the first network newswomen to report from the field in Vietnam, in 1966, and one of the first women to rise to the upper reaches of management when ABC made her vice president and director of documentaries in 1976.

Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor who rode out of the desert in the 1962 screen epic “Lawrence of Arabia” into a glamorous if brief reign as an international star in films like “Doctor Zhivago” and “The Night of the Generals,” died on Friday in Cairo. He was 83.
Mr. Sharif — who later became as well known for his mastery of bridge as he was for his acting — was a commanding, darkly handsome presence onscreen. He was multilingual as well, and comfortable in almost any role or cultural setting.

Burt Shavitz, a rural beekeeper whose homespun marketing for natural personal care products transformed him from an unknown recluse into the familiar scruffy face of a line of balms that healed a million lips, died on Sunday in Bangor, Me. He was 80.
Even after the sale, Mr. Shavitz remained a paid spokesman for Burt’s Bees, though he had returned to his hermit’s existence in a 400-square-foot converted turkey coop in Parkman, Me., northwest of Bangor. The abode was equipped with a radio and refrigerator but not a television or running hot water.
“A good day,” he said in the documentary, “is when no one shows up and you don’t have to go anywhere.”

YANGON, Myanmar — U Aung Thaung, a senior Burmese politician who was implicated in violence against dissidents and accused of personal corruption, died on Thursday in Singapore. He was 74.
A military veteran and close associate of U Than Shwe, who led Myanmar’s governing junta from 1992 to 2011, Mr. Aung Thaung was the country’s industry minister from 1997 to 2011. He was accused of using that position to financially benefit himself, his family and aides. The Irrawaddy, a website and magazine dedicated to news of Myanmar, said he was believed to be one of the country’s wealthiest men.
Mr. Aung Thaung was placed on a blacklist last year by the United States Treasury Department, which said he was undermining Myanmar’s transition to democracy.

Concordia University St. Paul
1282 Concordia Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55104, USA
The Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia University-St. Paul is pleased to announce its Sixth International Conference on Hmong Studies.
Call for Papers/Presentations
Please submit individual papers and panel proposals to Xiong@csp.edu. The deadline for submission of papers and proposals is November 15, 2015. Complete papers are due by March 1, 2016.
Please direct questions concerning this Call for Papers or the conference to:
Lee Pao Xiong, Director
Center for Hmong Studies
Concordia University, St. Paul
Phone: 651-641-8870
Email: xiong@csp.edu
Web: www.csp.edu/hmongcenter

Ngày 2/6, Thủ tướng Chính phủ đã ký quyết định số 752/QĐ-TTg, yêu cầu: Bộ Thông tin và Truyền thông chuyển giao nguyên trạng tổ chức bộ máy, lao động, tài chính - tài sản (bao gồm cả mạng truyền dẫn phát sóng và các khoản nợ phải thu, phải trả từ việc đầu tư hình thành tài sản) của Đài Truyền hình Kỹ thuật số VTC về Đài Tiếng nói Việt Nam.

Tại lễ ra mắt Hội đồng chỉ đạo biên soạn Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam (BKTTVN) ngày 18/6, Phó Thủ tướng Vũ Đức Đam - Chủ tịch Hội đồng chỉ đạo biên soạn - khẳng định Việt Nam cần, có thể và phải sớm biên soạn một bộ Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam tổng hợp cỡ lớn cho nước mình, nhằm mục đích giới thiệu một cách toàn diện, có hệ thống, chuẩn xác những tri thức cơ bản nhất về đất nước, con người, lịch sử xã hội, văn hóa khoa học công nghệ của Việt Nam và thế giới xưa và nay…. dự kiến có 36 quyển và khoảng 2.000 nhà khoa học tham gia vào các Ban biên soạn chuyển ngành.

Bộ trưởng Bộ Khoa học và công nghệ Nguyễn Quân vừa có thư gửi đến các nhà khoa học vật lý là người VN ở nước ngoài.
Bộ trưởng Nguyễn Quân kêu gọi các nhà khoa học cùng tích cực tham gia các hoạt động của Chương trình phát triển vật lý đến năm 2020. Thư đề nghị các nhà khoa học cùng đề xuất và tổ chức triển khai những vấn đề khoa học trong lĩnh vực vật lý “có ý nghĩa quan trọng đối với sự phát triển của vật lý VN và sự phát triển kinh tế xã hội của đất nước”.